A reader asks: Why is Linux still not as user friendly as the two other main OSes with all the people developing for Linux? Is it because it is mainly developed by geeks?
My initial feeling when reading this question was that it was kind of a throwaway, kind of a slam in disguise as a genuine question. But the more I thought about it, the more intrigued I felt. There truly are a large amount of resources being dedicated to the development of Linux and its operating system halo (DEs, drivers, apps, etc). Some of these resources are from large companies (IBM, Red Hat, Novell). Why isn't Linux more user-friendly? Is this an inherent limitation with open source software?

People keep comparing Linux to Windows. As if Windows has set some standard everything has to comply to. Problem is - that's not the case! You see - there are different ways to do things. Windows does not always has the best way to do things, but Linux has also some quirks. To say Linux is not user friendly depends heavenly on the things you expect to see. If you expect Linux is some Windows "clone" you will easily say Linux is crap, because of the simple fact that Linux is NO windows "clone". If you turn things around you should easily say windows is total crap because it acts different as Linux does. Windows is a very bad imitation of Linux.

Let me illustrate it with a little story.

A man uses a video recorder and was very happy with it. He loves his movies and uses the apparatus very heavenly. On a bad day his recorder broke down and he cannot play his beloved movies any longer. A relative felt sorry for him and want to surprise him. He buys a top-of-the-range DVD player/recorder and gives it to the man with the broken video recorder. A few days later the relative calls to see if the man likes the DVD player. To his surprise the man is angry and asks if it is some lousy joke or something. The relative is totally baffled and asks what's the problem. The man replies the DVD player is a piece of junk. It's total garbage. None of his tapes fits in the damn apparatus!

A DVD player is no video recorder. Linux is not Windows...

Despite of all the bashing and bad-mouthing about Linux it seems there is one thing nobody can ignore. The use of Linux is still growing! If Linux was such a bad and unfriendly OS it would sink away into non-existence, but it does not! A growing number of people are discovering Linux, and also like it! And that's something nobody can ignore or deny!!